The boundless sky stretched endlessly, and in the distance, a colossal glowing sphere hovered high above, illuminating the entire Jièzhōngjiè—the World Within a World.
“Boom! Boom!” A waterfall over a hundred meters tall thundered down into a deep pool below. The water from the pool emitted a chilling cold, but suddenly, five figures burst forth from the surface and landed on the shore. Under the glow of the light, their alloy battle suits reflected a cold sheen. These five were Luo Feng, Hong, Thunder God, Tie Nanhe, and Ao Gu.
“At last, we’ve had a major haul,” Thunder God sighed in relief. “These past few days nearly drove me crazy.”
“The cosmic crystals scattered throughout Jièzhōngjiè are disordered and without pattern. Sometimes we find several deposits in a row, other times we find none for a long stretch. This is perfectly normal,” Luo Feng said, scanning the silent forest around them. No other life stirred.
“Brother Three, how many cosmic crystals have we collected altogether?” Hong asked.
“In these three days, we’ve gathered 31,000 cubic meters of cosmic crystals,” Luo Feng smiled.
It was a number worth celebrating.
Since entering Jièzhōngjiè, their group had begun a thorough search of the outer regions. However, Jièzhōngjiè was enormous—nearly a million kilometers in both length and width. Searching the entire area thoroughly would require crossing the entire World Within a World tens of thousands of times!
No!
Even crossing it tens of thousands of times would only allow them to probe twenty kilometers beneath the surface.
The depth of Jièzhōngjiè extended far beyond twenty kilometers.
To scan just the top twenty kilometers of the surface thoroughly would take thousands of years! Because of its sheer size, searching for cosmic crystals was largely a matter of luck.
In the first ten hours after entering, they had found six deposits totaling 15,000 cubic meters of cosmic crystals.
However, from the first day until the next afternoon—nearly twenty hours—they found only one deposit, containing a mere 300 cubic meters.
It wasn’t until the afternoon of the second day that their luck improved.
They discovered five deposits in succession, especially the most recent one hidden deep in the pool, which alone contained 6,000 cubic meters.
In total, over three days, they had gathered 31,000 cubic meters of cosmic crystals.
“31,000 cubic meters of cosmic crystals equals 31 million cosmic coins, worth nearly ten billion Qianwu Credits. The first sum my teacher gave me was only one billion Qianwu Credits! Exploring new worlds is truly profitable…” Luo Feng felt joy welling up inside. His small team had left Earth and ventured into the vast cosmos.
This was their first mission as apprentice interstellar mercenaries, and they had stumbled upon such a rare opportunity.
“Logically speaking, cosmic-level powerhouses should have already entered the Realm of Ultimate Truth and expelled us by now,” Hong frowned. “Why haven’t we heard any news yet?”
“It is strange,” Luo Feng nodded slightly. “Although Thunder World is vast, flying from its edge to Thunder and Lightning Canyon would take only a day for a cosmic-level warrior unafraid of beast threats. It’s already been three days… Within Jièzhōngjiè, we haven’t encountered a single cosmic-level warrior, let alone Domain Lords or World Lords.”
“Why think so much? If they haven’t come in, we should keep mining cosmic crystals. Miss this opportunity, and there’s no second chance!” Thunder God urged eagerly.
“Haha, makes sense,” Hong said, equally excited.
In the universe, planets could be bought and sold, and ‘Muyacrystals’—used to feed Moyun Vines—were also freely traded. In short, with enough wealth, even cosmic-level servants could be purchased! As the trio who had journeyed from Earth to the stars, Hong, Thunder God, and Luo Feng naturally wanted to mine cosmic crystals aggressively.
With sufficient wealth, Earth would have a better future under their guidance.
They were the pioneers of humanity on Earth!
“Move out!” Luo Feng’s eyes gleamed with eagerness.
“Haha, move out!” Thunder God and Hong echoed.
The five-person team transformed into five streaks of light, continuing their search and excavation within Jièzhōngjiè using their scanning equipment.
…
Canglan Star.
At the entrance to Thunder World, within the garden of a historically significant villa, stood a bald, muscular man resembling a mountain, his eyes closed. The flame mark on his forehead exuded an aura that made people tremble and instinctively submit, like ants gazing at a towering peak.
He stood there, and the surrounding space subtly trembled. Occasionally, a flicker of flame would erupt from his body.
Before him stood the silver-haired woman ‘Qiniya’. Other Domain Lords and cosmic-level warriors remained outside the villa garden, while only Amontz and Qiniya stood within.
“Amontz, why haven’t you entered?” A mighty voice resounded through the garden.
A man clad in deep-blue battle armor, helmeted and even more massive than Amontz, appeared as if a deity. He strode through the air, each step causing the surrounding heavens and earth to quake. When he finally stepped into the garden, the entire garden vanished, replaced by a vast and boundless land, with a towering mountain nearby.
With but a word, he reshaped the heavens and earth, commanding a realm of his own.
“Who are you? Are you the one who stopped Amontz?” The muscular giant looked at the silver-haired woman, his eyes suddenly blazing like twin suns illuminating the heavens.
“Qiniya! Envoy of the Qianwu Branch of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance,” the silver-haired woman replied calmly, meeting his gaze. “You must be ‘Basaha’, the World Lord of the Holy Land ‘Heilongshan’ of the Heilongshan Empire.”
“Envoy?”
The giant studied the silver-haired woman for a moment, then turned his gaze to Amontz, his voice directly entering Amontz’s mind: “Amontz, who is she? She seems important, knowing my name directly. What is her identity?”
“I don’t know,” Amontz replied indifferently.
“If you don’t know, why did you stop because of a Domain Lord?” Basaha frowned slightly.
“I don’t know who she is, but I know she has an Immortal behind her,” Amontz said.
“An Immortal?” Basaha’s heart surged, but his expression remained calm like a stone. He then turned his gaze to the silver-haired woman named Qiniya. His world-force subtly swept around her, and indeed, he faintly sensed a tremor-inducing fluctuation.
“Lord Basaha.”
The silver-haired woman’s eyes remained calm. “This Thunder World is recognized by the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance as a ‘trial world’. Unless the Alliance revokes its status as a trial world, it remains off-limits to all except apprentice mercenaries of the starry level participating in the trial. No one else may enter.”
“Anyone who trespasses without permission will be in violation of the Alliance’s regulations!” Qiniya glared at Basaha.
Basaha felt a headache coming on.
He, Basaha, held a revered position, a high-ranking figure in one of the two Holy Lands of the Heilongshan Star Domain—the ‘Heilongshan’. Even the Emperor of the Heilongshan Empire showed him respect… Yet now, facing this silver-haired girl, he felt helpless. To kill her? He could do so with a mere flick of his hand!
But…
First, the girl’s background was formidable.
Secondly, she had made her stance crystal clear: “Unauthorized entry violates the Alliance’s regulations.” Who would dare provoke the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance? That would be nothing short of suicide.
Actually, the regulations were just regulations. In practice, many officials turned a blind eye. Who would go out of their way to enforce the rules strictly and risk offending powerful beings? But clearly, this silver-haired girl was not afraid of offending anyone.
“Amontz, where did she come from?” Basaha frowned, his mind filled with irritation.
“I don’t know,” Amontz replied through a low, mental communication.
A day later.
A third World Lord arrived.
A man dressed in deep red battle armor and a black cape appeared as if by teleportation. A streak of lightning flashed across the sky, and he appeared in the garden of the villa. His beauty was almost otherworldly, his eyebrows marked with a lightning insignia. Every time he blinked, lightning flickered in his eyes.
“Qiniya, why are you here?” The exquisitely handsome man stood in the garden, frowning at Qiniya.
“Sanfu Mountain, Jiang Tianchen!”
Both World Lords, Amontz and Basaha, were startled. In terms of power, Amontz was much stronger than Basaha. However, compared to Jiang Tianchen, he was significantly inferior. Jiang Tianchen was undoubtedly among the top five strongest beings in the entire Heilongshan Star Domain! He was a representative superpower of the Sanfu Mountain and held a key position in the Heilongshan Branch of the martial division of the Virtual Universe Company.
“I am here on behalf of my teacher to inspect the Heilongshan Star Domain. I coincidentally discovered this matter and naturally had to intervene!” Qiniya looked at Jiang Tianchen. “I am currently acting for my teacher, so I must prevent any violation of the Alliance’s regulations.”
Jiang Tianchen’s eyebrows furrowed, and with a crackling sound, lightning flashed around him.
“This is sheer nonsense,” Jiang Tianchen said, clearly annoyed.
“Nonsense?!” Qiniya retorted angrily. “Jiang Tianchen, these are the regulations established by our Cosmic Mercenary Alliance. It’s not your place to decide! I may not be able to stop you, but I will record everything that happens here and report it to my teacher. Anyone who openly violates the Alliance’s regulations will be reported, and the Law Enforcement Team will hunt them down, shattering their souls and reducing them to nothingness. Don’t blame me for not warning you.”
Jiang Tianchen narrowed his eyes.
Amontz and Basaha couldn’t help but admire the girl. She must have a powerful backer to dare to confront Jiang Tianchen directly.
“You’re provoking the strongest beings of the Heilongshan Star Domain,” Jiang Tianchen frowned at Qiniya.
“Don’t try to intimidate me! Anyone who dares to enter, I will report to the Alliance according to the regulations,” Qiniya said coldly.
Jiang Tianchen shook his head. “Your strength is far inferior to your teacher’s, but you’ve certainly inherited his temper.”
“Amontz, Basaha, I will arrange a meeting involving the four organizations and two Holy Lands of the Heilongshan Star Domain to discuss the matter of Jièzhōngjiè,” Jiang Tianchen said, looking at Amontz and Basaha.
Amontz and Basaha nodded.
“Jiang Tianchen, are you planning to gather forces to pressure me?” Qiniya’s aura intensified.
She was furious.
She had come prepared to stand her ground!
“You’ve already invoked the Alliance’s regulations. Who would dare oppose you?” Jiang Tianchen glanced at her. “Rest assured, I will follow the Alliance’s regulations strictly and will not send any cosmic-level, Domain Lord, or World Lord into Jièzhōngjiè.” At the same time, he split a portion of his consciousness into the Virtual Universe Network.
Maintaining awareness in the real world while sending a fragment of consciousness into the Virtual Universe was effortless for a World Lord.
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